Zirr – Trains

by Martin James Hunter

Ungovernable recesses of the cosmos. Places where spacecrafts vanish as galleys once did when the oceans had yet to be tamed. The utopia man once dreamt of could not be further away.

(1) Containers shifted into position within a vast storage area. An overseer relaying commands into a tired intercom. Strange lifeforms excitedly rush to appease him. (2) A forsaken vessel drifting amid the stars. It has been transmitting the same garbled distress signal for centuries. (3) At the other side of the galaxy, attempts to calibrate old sensory apparatus produce unsettling results. Eventually the men pull the plug. (4) Low-ceilinged corridors flash with industrial lighting. A security team hunts an escaped convict with the synchrony of a machine. (5) The prison ship comes to refuel in an aged docking bay. Beams of light blind the crew as the decontamination process begins. (6) There is an ominous moment as the radar detects something of unprecedented size. Amid the tension a proximity alarm goes unnoticed. (7) A great artefact is brought aboard and studied under bright lights. Alluring hieroglyphics along its length evoke memories of a forgotten culture. (8) A crew member is struck in the back of the head by an unseen figure.